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A train service that carries daily travelers from Manchester to London is set to run empty for approximately a five-month period due to a decision by the railway oversight authority.

A verdict by the rail regulatory body means the 07:00 GMT service operated by Avanti West Coast from Manchester's main station to London will still operate but will only be used to transport staff from mid-December.

An Avanti West Coast representative expressed they were "let down" with the decision, which would "definitely affect those customers who regularly take these services".

An ORR official indicated the decision was founded on "solid data" from the infrastructure manager to guard against possible operational issues on the key rail corridor.

The infrastructure company declined to comment.

Details of the Service Changes

The fast service, which reaches the capital in less than 120 minutes, will continue to leave from Manchester station at 07:00 on four weekdays, but will not be available to the public.

It will, instead, transport company employees from London from Manchester when the new timetable takes effect on 15 December.

The decision means the service could run for more than 100 trips without fare-paying customers on the train.

An Avanti West Coast representative clarified they were disappointed with the ORR's determination not to approve access rights from the winter period for four weekday services they currently operated, including the 7:00 AM express train from Manchester to London.

The ORR also required a weekend train which currently runs from Holyhead to London to terminate at Crewe station, they noted.

"This will clearly impact those passengers who currently rely on these trains," they stated.

"However, we will still be delivering even more trains across our network from the start of the winter schedule, featuring more extra trains on our Liverpool route."

The spokesperson confirmed that the trains being withdrawn were:

• 07:00 GMT: Manchester Piccadilly to Euston station (Weekdays)
• 12:52 PM GMT: Blackpool station – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 9:39 AM GMT: London Euston – Blackpool station (Monday to Friday)
• 19:32 GMT: Chester station – Euston station (Monday to Friday)
• 17:53 GMT: Holyhead – Euston station terminates at Crewe station (Sunday)

Regulatory Rationale

An regulatory spokesperson explained: "Our ruling on the London-Manchester train was based on robust evidence provided by Network Rail that adding services within 'buffer' slots on the West Coast Main Line would have a detrimental impact on reliability.

"It was determined that this service would operate within one of those paths. If Avanti operates the train as unoccupied train cars (ECS), ECS can be run more flexibly (delayed or redirected) than a booked passenger service.

"This helps with performance management and operational restoration during incidents."

The regulator said the operator was previously given the right to run this service from spring 2025 for the period of one timetable period exclusively.

This was on the basis that First Lumo's Scottish trains were not running at the moment but the those trains are expected to begin operating during the winter 2025 schedule update.

The ORR noted that under the new timetable, new open access rail operations, run by First Lumo to Stirling, Scotland, were scheduled to commence.